According to the IAPP Privacy and Consumer Trust report, about 68% of consumers said they are either somewhat or very concerned about their online privacy.
Since privacy affects consumers personally and closely, brands should steer clear of doing anything that would remotely jeopardize it. In other words, there’s usually no good justification for breaching privacy.
A recent example is Ring announcing during the Super Bowl that it was launching a feature called “Search Party” that would use AI to scan participating homeowners’ Ring doorbell footage to locate lost pets. On top of this, Ring was partnering with Flock Safety, a company that provides camera systems and license-plate readers to law enforcement.
Facing backlash, Ring announced that employees “are not able to view, access, or control live streams.” The fact that Ring had to make that statement showed that consumers were worried about being watched.
Soon after, Ring’s CEO gave an interview with ABC in which he said, “I didn’t expect the reaction–I understand the concerns.” That comment seems to indicate that the team at Ring 1) had no initial idea about how important privacy is to consumers and 2) is now finally understanding, but only after public outcry.
No matter how much Ring and its CEO promoted the benefits of finding lost pets, privacy for consumers was more important. On Feb. 12, just four days after the Super Bowl, Ring announced that it was ending its partnership with Flock Safety.